Beyond the Flames
by SilentSpectator101
Summary: Lord Aelyx of House Vogaerys has woken after decades in slumber after the Doom of Valyria. Will he recreate the Freehold? Or will the might of Valyria be lost forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Aelyx Vogaerys**

 _1BC_

A feeling much like attempting to breathe through a blanket enveloped him as he awoke coughing a spluttering a lungful of dust that had accumulated over the centuries since the Doom.

Aelyx would cast an imposing figure were he not coughing his lungs up; standing at six-and-a-half feet with broad shoulders, his deep violet eyes and shoulder length silver hair marking his descent from the blood of dragons for all to see.

After his chest stopped heaving and he regained his composure he turned his gaze to his chambers. They were truly rather luxurious, located in the towers of his families castle built around the peak of one of the Fourteen Flames of the Freehold. The castle had once been truly beautiful, as with all Valyrian architecture the halls and chambers of the castle looked as if carved from a single stone. No breaks in the masterful works could be seen. Towering peaks of white stone stood high above the city in the valley below the ancient and powerful volcano his family had made their home for thousands of years. His chambers were located at the zenith of such a peak.

House Vogaerys was a prominent family among the ruling Forty of the Valyrian Freehold. Their family was the ruling house of the Great City of Oros. A city who's grand heritage included being the main schooling center for hundreds of dragons and their riders over the millennia.

Each of the Forty Families rules over a great city or town in the Freehold. The various lords of each of the families made up a collective who voted on matters of law, war and other such matters of import. Whilst each of these families are powerful, the fourteen families who held the most power in the Freehold were those who's domains included one of the huge volcanoes in the range called the 'Fourteen Flames'. These families were far more powerful than other families of the Freehold as the heat and energy from the volcano can be channeled and the heat inside these volcanoes is capable of hatching dragon eggs. As dragonfire is required to temper Valyrian Steel families owning these volcanoes are the only ones who can produce it.

Aelyx stood up from the bed and dusted himself off, his chambers were covered completely by an inch of dust.

 _It is as he thought._

He had entered these chambers and guarded them with thick protective wards after the Flames began to shake and erupt. His father had cautioned him that this would happen after the ancient magic preventing said volcanoes from erupting began to warp and fade. This was reported to his father by the lords of the other Flames. He had ordered him to return to his chambers and activate the runes carved into the rock. Aelyx had been reluctant but his father was his Lord and he obeyed.

 _Am I the last one left?_

No...he couldn't be. His father had been warned. Surely the families of other lords had been warned and performed similar actions as he?

He left the chambers, on his way out noting that everything was still intact. His wards had not failed or faded, a grand tapestry depicting a battle of dragons lay still perfectly intact on the walls. A banner of his family sigil of a roaring black dragon on a field of emerald hung next to it.

Outside his chambers the rest of the castle had not been so lucky. Mounds of melted and cooled rock stood in place of grand statues, puddles of gold and silver where there was once riches beyond measure. He set his jaw.

 _The vaults._

Would they still be intact? They had stood in the mountain for thousands of years unharmed by previous spells of eruption.

 _The Doom was no meagre 'spell of eruption'._

The very mountain the great castle was built on had _exploded_ yet the tunnels and vaults should have been protected by the spells and charms countless generations of Vogaerys had cast. He immediately set off to the entrance.

It was a huge door. It extended high above his head and had the characteristic smoky sheen of Valyrian Steel, two feet thick _no one_ was going to be stealing their way in.

Opening this door was a technique taught to his family at a young age, _drawing their family sigil in blood._ He bit into his thumb and began smearing the pattern onto the metal, watching his blood seep in as if the door was _thirsty_. After he was done he stepped back and heard the telltale crack as the seemingly solid wall of metal cracked to a thin line and the massive doors opened inwards.

After a somewhat long walk he reached the bowels of the mountain. There were three chambers in the family vaults. Each containing a different part of the family wealth and precious items.

The first containing the families wealth, precious gems, gold and silver lay here in _abundance._ Millions of gold pieces stockpiled over the ages, all the wealth being a member of such a prominent family owning a coastline city of the Valyrian Freehold afforded was collected in that chamber.

In the second chamber is stored armours and weapons made of Valyrian Steel. Being one of fourteen families with a vast collection of dragons and therefore a large capability for forging the powerful metal meant that each generation of the Vogaerys family created weapons and armour made to their specific style and needs. All stored in the chamber. There were hundreds of sets of armour and weapons in that chamber.

However in the third and final chamber, the real power of his house was kept.

 _Eggs._

In the vault was stored his families most powerful and important possessions. Dragon Eggs. The power to destroy and rebuild nations kept in the bowels of an ancient volcano for years beyond counting. Every time a new member of his family was born a dragon egg was taken from the vault and placed in their crib until it hatched and they bonded with it using magic. Yet every time a dragon gave birth to a new clutch of eggs they were taken and kept in the vault. In Valyria a families dragons was their power and their status. Few dragons meant being of little meaning in society.

Aelyx remembered as if it was yesterday the image of all the Vogaerys dragons flying high above the mountain. There were many of them, since he was born the combined dragon power of all branches of the family came to a total of twenty-two. Each bonded to a member of the family and each giving their family power and meaning. True overlords of the Freehold.

Only a couple of families bested his in power, this included the family ruling the Freehold's namesake, the motherland, the Great City of Valyria.

Being a young man of seventeen, Aelyx would usually not be a Lord at all. Yet he supposed that his father was dead, having stayed with the other major lords to attempt to strengthen the magic holding back the Flames.

 _Father's dead._

He hadn't imagined he would hear those words for centuries as lifespans in the freehold tended to be much longer as the magic bonding one with their rider meant they lived as long as their bonded dragon.

Shaking those thoughts he put the thought aside, he had never been close to his family, much preferring the company of his dragon Syrax. A black dragon, with strength beyond his years due to the heavy use of magic in the rearing of his families dragons.

The now _Lord_ Aelyx had held dreams of war and conquest in high esteem and had hoped to see glory and power by conquering the _slaves_ of Braavos in future years, perhaps placing a cousin of his in the lordship of the city to further increase his houses power.

 _With the current situation such thoughts may have to wait._

But he _would_ have his glory. The world would tremble at his might.

* * *

Now he had ensured the safety of his eggs he needed to find his dragon Syrax. He could still feel his connection to the dragon but it was weak, almost muffled.

 _He must be in stasis too._

Before leaving the vaults he located his favourite suit of Valyrian armour and put it on over leather padding. Swiftly following the armour was his huge war hammer. Whilst he could fight efficiently with a sword or any other weapon his first love and natural talent lay in crushing his foes heads with a big block of metal. His father hadn't exactly been ecstatic at his choice, but thankfully hadn't disregarded it. Strapping it to his back he next entered the second chamber and slipped on several rings.

Each ring was designed to focus surrounding natural energy into available power to draw from when casting spells. After slipping two on each hand he could feel his magic strengthening and let out a deep sigh when he felt his connection to Syrax strengthen. He could now locate his presence and could confirm that he was, indeed, in stasis.

Aelyx left the vaults and the castle and headed for the dragon tower. Less of a tower and more a personal castle for all dragons, the _tower_ was a monstrosity. High ceilings and wide halls it was perfect for the dragons that lay within.

Such large structures were generally the only ones surviving the Doom. The more stone in the building, the more available space to carve defensive wards into, thus allowing you to take shelter inside. If there was any place he would find other survivors it would be the tower.

Entering he was pleasantly surprised, the inside looked to have sustained little to no damage.

 _Powerful wards indeed_.

In the center of the colossal room was the one person he couldn't live without. Literally. Dragonlords are magically connected to their dragons from the moment the dragon hatches. Being bonded increased lifespan and strength of magic but also comes with the side effect of death should the bonded dragon die. It was not the same for dragons. Should the rider of a dragon die the dragon would be fine. Often finding a second or even third rider before its death.

The bond also allowed for mental connection, whilst dragons were incapable of speech they could communicate mentally through a rather primitive method of sharing feelings and images.

Walking up to the great and proud black dragon Aelyx placed his hand atop its snout and allowed his energy to flow into the dragon, breaking the spell. He slowly felt Syrax's thoughts stirring from the interesting dream of him eating an auroch whole to concentrating somewhat on his surroundings. Aelyx smiled widely when he saw his lifelong friends huge eyelids shift, gold meeting violet. The pair immediately joined minds, living through each others eyes for a second before recreating the mental barrier.

 _Come on Syrax, we need to leave._

And he meant it. The city of Oros didn't feel _right_. The place contained a stain of the terrible pain the people of the city had suffered. It made him sad thinking about it.

Leaping atop Syrax's back the great dragon slowly stood on wobbly legs before lumbering off through the colossal doors Aelyx had left opened. Sitting on his dragon, Aelyx was no longer sad. He had his dragon and the eggs were safe in vaults.

The only question left for Aelyx was where he was going to go.

He could go north into Essos, but he didn't have any information on the current affairs of the land.

 _Had any other dragonlords escaped the Doom?_

Suddenly a thought struck him.

 _Aenar the Exile._

The man had fled decades ago after his 'deluded' daughter had spouted 'nonsense' about fire and blood raining in the Freehold. Oh, had they listened. The Lord of the city of Targ had survived and fled to the Valyrian outpost of Dragonstone of the eastern edge of Westeros. Whilst the Targaryens were part of the Forty Families they were not especially prominent or wealthy. Having only five dragons when they fled they were _considerable_ sure, but powerful? If they were all that lived past the Doom, reforming the Freehold was out the window. Having enough riders to hatch his eggs for would take decades and giving eggs to another house? Unlikely. He desperately needed to find a bride or two of Valyrian descent to keep his name alive.

 _The last member of my family._

Now that was a lonely thought.

* * *

 **Well I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know in reviews, they're are like little orgasms to a writer. :P**

 **I read a couple of stories with this kind of plot line and figured I would have a go at it myself.**

 **Cya next time**

 **SS101**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Free City of Volantis**

 _1BC_

Black walls as high as the sky and as ancient as dragons seemed to scale the clouds themselves. The Black Wall is a great oval built two hundred feet high in the eastern half of Volantis, the area within is called 'Old Volantis'; so this is the wall that six four-horse chariots can race around the battlements, this is done annually to celebrate the founding of the city. The Black Wall was built by the Freehold when Volantis was nothing but an outpost of the Freehold. Only people who can trace their ancestry back to the families of Valyria are allowed to live in the heart of Volantis.

It was at such an event that Aelyx found a friend.

Valarr Kalynx was the last member of a Valyrian noble family, with the signature silver hair and lilac eyes he stood out in a crowd.

 _Well perhaps not this crowd..._

He was at the annual chariot race in the center or Volantis. The only people allowed to attend and live within The Black Wall were those of Valyrian descent. As such his features were not even a curiosity. Most of the people in the city were bastards or lower branches of houses that went extinct during the Doom. His house had been of low standing in the Freehold, having no dragons and minor lands his great-grandfather had left with all the wealth and slaves they could muster and bought property in the city of Volantis thirty years before the eruptions began.

 _What a boon that was._

All but one family of dragonlords had perished, and all the major families had been culled in one go. Valarr supposed that being the lord of one of a handful of Valyrian trueborn houses to survive made him somewhat lucky. His family had done well as merchant lords in Volantis and their name and estates had grown to heights far beyond what they could have hoped to achieve in the Freehold.

Whilst he was rich and powerful in Volantis he was one of three members of his family to live, the others being his sisters Helaena and Jaehaera. One of which his father had been adamant he would marry before their father passed of a sudden fever a scattering of years previous.

 _I need more._

For his family to survive he needed more, they needed to be more than merchants in a city of slaves.

 _But how?_

His family, whilst wealthy, had no dragons and the Valyrian magic that his family had once had some control over had faltered and waned since the Doom. Thus leaving him with a question that he was unable to answer.

 _Aelyx had the answer._

Aelyx had flown on his black dragon Syrax through the ruins of Valyria and into the Free Cities in search of surviving dragonlords. He had landed in Volantis and, more specifically, the portion of the city located in the black walls where only those of Valyria were allowed to live.

It therefore seemed an excellent place to find Valyrians.

Walking slowly through the crowd he allowed his senses to extend and was immediately bombarded with sensations like a dragon roaring in his ears. Fighting through the pain he honed his search to those of pure Valyrian blood, those born of both a Valyrian father _and_ mother. Which ruled out the majority of the crowd since they mostly descended from Valyrian bastards.

The roaring in his mind now gone he began to trace the magical signatures. Turning his gaze to the left he spotted a man about his age watching the chariots from afar. A vacant expression on his face showed that the unknown man felt Aelyx's presence too. He began to walk towards him, noting the long silver hair, pale skin and lilac eyes.

 _This man is definitely from a Valyrian family_.

The majority of those descending from Valyria had usually only one trait. This man had all three.

The man's eyes flew up to meet his own, widening slightly. As Aelyx drew closer the man seemed to tense up before straightening his back to show his full height.

 _A subconscious acknowledgement of his power as a Vogaerys._

Aelyx stopped a meter from his target. Looking deep into his eyes he tried to extend his mind in his direction, finding his probes scattering against strong mental barriers, he pulled back wincing.

 _Definitely has innate magic._

Aelyx whole plan for conquest rested on finding others with potential to bond to and hatch eggs.

 _Magic equals dragons._

Smiling lightly he extended his arm to the man in a show of peace. The man grasped it firmly and let out a light smirk.

Deciding to test the man for his knowledge of Valyria he spoke in High Valyrian.

" _Enjoying the chariot race friend?"_

The man raised a single silver eyebrow and returned.

" _Of course, such a race only occurs once a year, I'd hate to miss it."_

His eyes widened. He speaks High Valyrian.

 _Definitely a Valyrian house then._

The Free Cities speak a bastardised version of the language, and whilst it wasn't overly rare for one to learn proper language most wouldn't bother.

" _Are you new to the city, I haven't seen you here before?"_ said the Man

" _Yes, I only got here yesterday.-"_ He continued. " _I am Aelyx...Aelyx Vogaerys. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."_

The Man tensed once again.

 _"Vogaerys? The name is familiar, one of the Forty if I remember correctly."_

 _"That's the one. Obviously such things matter no longer. The Freehold is gone. I'm afraid I didn't catch yours?"_

Valarr was excited by the possiblities. A powerful dragonlord family had survived! House Vogaerys was his families overlords in Oros before House Kalynx left to Volantis. Valarr had bloodties to this man.

 _"Valarr Kalynx. You might know the name, my house was one of your banners before the Doom."_

Aelyx knew the name well. House Kalynx had owned some small lands around Oros and were sworn to his house until they sold all their assets and left to Volantis a decade or so before the Doom. Aelyx had been a small boy at the time but he remembered his father mentioning it.

 _Aelyx smiled widely. A friend he had found._

* * *

Over the coming weeks Aelyx and Valarr spoke in length about a number of subjects. Aelyx told of the Doom, it's cause and the effects he had witness when he had flown over the peninsula.

Every city was ruined. Part of the ground had given way to the see after the explosions of a few of the Flames located close to each other. A place now called The Smoking Sea. Valarr had frowned at this and spoken of what he knew of his grandfather's flight to Volantis and the current affairs of Essos.

From this information Aelyx had concluded that he had been asleep for one-hundred and thirteen years.

 _Over a century._

Much had changed since then. For a period a Valyrian named Aurion had attempted to unite Essos immediately after the Doom from Qohor.

 _He had failed._

Aelyx remembered the man. He had been the Valyrian authoritative presence in Qohor.

 _An ambassador of sorts._

Other news included that of House Targaryen on Dragonstone. Aenar was long dead and now his grandson Aerion was Lord there. He had two daughters and a son, Rhaenys, Visenya and Aegon.

Aelyx now knew that Dragonstone is exactly where he would go. House Targaryen now had three tamed dragons and four untamed living in and on the Dragonmont. The Volcano the fortress was built next to.

 _More volcanoes...lovely._

He had spent the last week living under the hospitality of Valarr and had spoken of his dragon Syrax and his families vaults. All of which Valarr had been very happy to hear of. During the week he had had the pleasure of meeting both of Valarr's sisters and was going to offer Valarr a dragon egg and some Valyrian steel in return for Helaena's hand.

He usually wouldn't have stooped so low as to marry her, he had been betrothed to several daughters of the Forty before the Doom. Yet with current circumstances she was Valyrian and Valarr was his most steadfast ally for the moment.

Perhaps he could marry one of the Targaryen girls after he landed there. The Targaryens had only three dragons to their name. He had all his families wealth still stored in Oros and was sure he could use magic to break into the other vaults of the Great Houses of Valyria to take theirs. All Aelyx needed was heirs to carry his name, with wives he could secure his family regardless of which house they came from.

So with that plan created Aelyx bid farewell to Valarr and his sisters with the promise to return the year following. Valarr would spend time securing his power in Volantis, namely buying Unsullied slaves in Astapor with gold and silver from the vaults of Oros that Aelyx would allow Valarr to use.

Aelyx climbed atop Syrax and with a push from his powerful legs and a few bats of his wings they were off to Dragonstone.

 _A new journey awaits._


	3. Chapter 3

Mother Nature was a truly powerful thing.

Humans had been engaging in petty power struggles since they first existed. First by hitting someone with a rock to steal their food; after time this evolved into stabbing each other with bronze and then steel. Great empires waged decade long wars over territory comparable to one huge cock measuring contest.

Yet in the end humankind was nothing compared to the world they struggled to live upon.

Earthquakes, tornadoes and storms raged uninterrupted despite the pathetic efforts of fragile humans.

It was in one such storm that Aelyx currently found himself.

Waves ten feet high reached for the black swirling clouds. Rain and wind struck his face like arrows from a bowstring instilling in him a deep chill. Lightning racing across the sky producing a sound so loud is rattled his cold bones. Septons of Westeros would say the Smith was beating his hammer, but all Aelyx knew was terror.

He had been flying upon Syrax for a little over a week. Having left Volantis and only stopped once at Lys to rest for a couple of days the pair were both tired. Syrax beat his great black wings trying to stay in the air, but the cold and fatigue was setting in and Aelyx knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

The pair were out of options, they wouldn't be able to reach land in time.

Shaking Aelyx raised his head to gaze into the blackness from his faithful dragon's back before he dropped it back down and, after weathering one final second of biting cold, welcomed the darkness as his last thought echoed in his mind.

 _I'm sorry Syrax._

* * *

When he woke the first thing he felt was a dull ache all over his body. Like he had been battered all over with pieces of wood; when he opened his eyes he realised that may not be so far from the truth.

All around him lay, well, pieces of wood. Broken and worn driftwood. The beach he was currently laying on was covered in it.

The next thing to catch his eye were the corpses. Scattered amongst the wood was what was unmistakably human flesh. Thankfully the corpses were mostly intact, pointing towards death by drowning. Though there were a few that weren't so lucky, having been stabbed to death with some of the driftwood.

Slowly pushing himself onto his knees, a sudden pain in his head made him clench his teeth and squeeze his eyes until the nausea passed.

 _Just my luck. Concussion._

Trying again he made his way to his feet, though slower this time, and began to properly survey the area.

Looking at the corpses and the wood, he put two and two together and worked out that it was remnants of a shipwreck. From how fresh the corpses smelt it was the same storm that had taken him out of the air. Suddenly panicking he swung his head around, despite the agonising beating his brain gave him at the motion, looking for any sign of his dragon. Yet he found none.

Attempting to calm himself down he made his way towards the nearest of the corpses, grimacing as he decided to see if they had anything useful to loot.

* * *

After an hour of looting the dead so unceremoniously he had gathered several pouches of gold and silver coins with which he hoped he could buy supplies at the nearest settlement, found several swords of varying quality and made a pile of corpses of which he set alight with a wave of his hand. Thank the gods his rings had stayed on during the storm.

 _May the poor sods find their peace in the afterlife. Whichever they believe in._

He had however, made zero progress on finding his dragon.

So with a last look at the pile of flaming corpses, he began the walk along the beach.

* * *

He had been walking for what seemed like hours, his stomach empty and his throat sore and dry, when he came upon another of what he assumed to be a drowned sailor.

 _Oh how wrong he was._

As he came closer he soon identified several pieces of alarming information.

Firstly, the 'corpse' was breathing.

Secondly, it had silver hair.

And lastly, it had a large Valyrian Steel sword strapped to its back.

Oh.

He supposed the first was the most important, and with that thought he rushed(as much as his exhausted and dehydrated body _could_ rush) towards the now not-corpse.

Turning the Valyrian looking man on to his side he began slapping his back and watching as water poured out of all his orifices. Laying a hand on the mans chest he allowed a small amount of energy to be drawn from his body and given to the man, watching as some of the colour returned to his cheeks and his breathing eased.

Slowly, the man opened his eyes.

Spotting Aelyx looming over him he started and moved back.

Aelyx raised his hands in the universal gesture of, chill out I'm not trying to kill you.

 _At least he hoped it was universal._

* * *

Once the man had been sufficiently placated and had calmed himself down, Aelyx had tested the waters so to speak, and tried to speak to the man in High Valyrian. This received an interesting reaction of a raised eyebrow and a swift return in perfect High Valyrian.

Aelyx had smiled.

After discovering their shared language the pair had introduced themselves. Aelyx was shocked to find that the man he had saved was, in fact, a Targaryen. Aegon Targaryen, Heir of Dragonstone and Rider of Balerion to be specific.

After Aegon had discovered who Aelyx was he had been...reluctant, to believe him. With a few pointed words the two had overcome this and Aegon had eventually believed him, or at the very least humoured him.

Aelyx discovered that Aegon also had no idea where they were.

 _Perfect._

At least he had a friend.

And with that the pair decided to walk inland to hopefully find a town or at the very least a fresh water river or stream.

* * *

Valarr Kalynx was happy.

After meeting Lord Aelyx he had been given instructions to buy as many unsullied as he had the money to buy. After which the full sum add interest would be return the Valarr from the vaults of House Vogaerys left in Oros.

This was a deal Valarr was more than happy with. His house had fallen far, by swearing to Aelyx they would rise again, and even become dragonlords with Aelyx's eggs. Old Valyria was gone, and with that came a whole world of opportunity for his house.

This is how he found himself sitting in a feasting hall in Astapor. Slaves of all kinds were in the hall serving the lords with which he dined. Bed slaves sat in the lap of every man at the table. Serving slaves bringing forth course after course, all while the Wise Masters joked and drank.

He had never been happier. Yet he knew he couldn't just revel in the party, he needed to speak to the ruling Master of Astapor and buy the slaves as requested by his liege. As such, he moved over to the ruler. Conversation was light at first, and when asked how many Unsullied he wished to purchase the Wise Master let out a howl of laughter at hearing that he intended to buy _all of them_.

If only it was a joke.

Smiling slightly at the man. Valarr repeated that he wished to buy them all. Until the laughing stopped and a calculating look passed the man's face, slowly a light entered his eyes and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"You wish to buy them all? Have you any idea how much that would cost?" At hearing this the Wise Masters all stopped their conversations and fell silent. A few smiling at the thought of the gold that would bring to the city.

"Yes, by my calculations. You have seven-thousand unsullied in the city. Each is bought at the price of seventy-five gold. seven-thousand times seventy-five equals five-hundred and twenty-five thousand gold pieces. I'm thinking that with me buying in bulk we can knock that to an even half-a-million. Assuming you wish to sell them?"

The Ruler of Astapor was wide-eyed his mouth gaping like a fish before spluttering out what sounded like affirmation. He remained like this for a good couple of seconds longer before the biggest grin he had ever seen spread out on his face and he stood up raising his golden chalice and proclaiming a toast to Valarr. On the grounds of 'a lasting friendship'.

Valarr didn't care.

* * *

The next day he watched as five-hundred thousand gold pieces in chests were unloaded from his ships and loaded straight back onto carts lined up at the harbour. The huge sum surprisingly fit into relatively few chests.

Valarr couldn't help but let out a laugh as he gave an appraising look at the whip he now carried and looked out at a field with seven-thousand men gazing motionlessly ahead awaiting orders.

 _His orders._

Sure, he was now pretty much penniless, but that was only a temporary problem should Aelyx live up to his word as he was sure he would.

With a final word from the Ruler of Astapor, telling him that he should blood his new troops as soon as possible looting one of the many small cities in the surrounding area and making Valarr the offer of buying any of the young male slaves he might take in his conquests to be trained as Unsullied.

With that said he mounted his horse and rode ahead of the great army. Loving the sound of the ground quaking in their presence.

All he could think of now was his first target.

 _Yunkai._

* * *

 **Hellooooooo!**

 **I am really enjoying writing this fic. Very satisfying.**

 **Hoped you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think in a review. They are the best motivation in the world.**

 **Cya :)**

 **SS101**


	4. Chapter 4

_1BC_

Aurion Targaryen sat upon his throne at Dragonstone. The ancient, carved stone usually made him feel immortal, yet today it only made him uncomfortable

Depression had settled over the last bastion of the Freehold after the storm which had rendered his flagship a wreck. His only hope was that his son had not met the same fate.

 _He must be alive._

It had now been months since the wreckage and the scouts had seen or heard nothing of him from the mainland. His only consolation was Balerion's continued calmness, the bond between the great black dragon and his son was strong. Aurion was certain the dragon would know if his rider was dead.

His heart clenched when he thought of his daughters. The pair had almost immediately gone into mourning after hearing the news. The reaction of his wife Valaena however had been the worst. She had screamed and sobbed into his chest for days and had since not stopped praying to the gods for Aegon's safe return.

 _Her only son._

 _Their only son._

 _Not even married yet, no heir for his house._

With no male to continue their name, all that would be left of the Forty Families was the physical Valyrian traits to be passed down to his daughters children.

It was at this point that Aurion heard an unmistakable roar of a _dragon_.

* * *

With a yawn Aelyx Vogaerys woke from his slumber.

Looking around he realised he had fallen asleep on the floor.

 _Again_.

After meeting Aegon and searching around the area they had come upon a small fishing village who had been kind enough to charge high prices for low quality supplies for the pair.

 _Gotta love a good daylight robbery._

Not that it had been all bad, Aelyx and Aegon had formed a strong relationship since the storm and they could now comfortably say they were friends. Considering Aelyx had none others, this was good.

He let out a groan as he raised his head to survey the area around him, as he did so a pounding ache spread deep in his skull.

 _Hangover. Brilliant._

His race had managed many miracles, curing a hangover was sadly not one of them. Craving fresh air he slowly crawled to his feet and left the tavern he had half drunk himself to death in.

 _A sense of camaraderie always leads to drinking._

Wondering briefly where Aegon had lost himself he began the search for water.

Walking to the well in the center of the village he noticed a bucket full already and lifted it to his face taking long draws from it. He sighed feeling the cold water soothe his raw throat.

 _The ale here is of rather poor quality. Still gets the job done._

Walking back through the village in the middle hours of the morning, when the sun had barely risen. One would expect near silence.

This was, apparently, not the case.

Some... _interesting_ sounds made their way to his ears from one of the villagers huts.

 _There he is._ He thought smiling.

He set off towards the hut and leaned against the door frame waiting for his friend to notice his presence. When he inevitably _didn't_ he decided to alert them to his presence.

With a loud clearing of his throat he watch the girl scream and attempt to cover herself as Aegon looked up and groaned.

 _"Must you always ruin things for me friend? Not even a moment of peace?"_

"Well, where would be the fun in that? Get dressed, we need to go. From the little I can remember of last night Rosby is near here and from there we should be able to get you back to Dragonstone. We should leave soon, despite our fun I'm getting tired of fishing villages." With that said he walked away ready to pack himself. Though there wasn't much to pack other than food and sleeping mats into his horses saddlebags.

Luckily for Aegon he had managed to hold onto his ancestral sword. Aelyx was similiarly lucky in that he had managed to locate his dragon. The poor thing must have managed to reach land by some miracle and had since flown off to Dragonstone.

 _Abandoning me on the beach._

 _Bastard._

With that thought the pair of Valyrians set off for Rosby, to reach Dragonstone and House Targaryen.

* * *

The journey to Rosby took a week and by the end of it the pair of Valyrians wanted nothing more than to just fly. If only his bloody dragon hadn't abandoned him washed up on a beach.

Pushing the thought from his mind Aelyx walked through the gates to the castle of Rosby and to their salvation.

The castle wasn't much to see, it was scarce more than a wideplace on the road to Stokeworth and further along, Duskendale, but its harbour had ships that could get them to Dragonstone and thats all that mattered.

Aegon however, had other ideas.

His whole life he had _dreamed_ of his Dragon Conquest of these lands. These were his people and they would bow to him. It took all the energy Aelyx had to mentally restrain him from running right up to the keep and attempting to make Lord Rosby bend his knee.

With ever increasing speed Aelyx bought passage to Dragonstone for the two Valyrian's and they were on their way back to Syrax and Balerion. Aelyx could feel the roars of happiness in his mind through their connection.

 _Home sweet home._

* * *

Valarr Kalynx was camped with his freshly bought slave army a few league outside of Yunkai. It seemed taking the great city would be harder than he had first thought. They would definitely lose more men than he had hoped, but the spoils should pay off. It was a city for bed-slaves and as such they had few warriors, but they did have an abundance of gold, leaving them with a reasonably solid option for warfare.

 _Sellswords,_ and lots of them.

An opposite army was camped in front of the walls, his scouts estimated it to be of roughly five thousand men a slightly smaller size than his own. His unsullied soldiers were also of better quality than the sellsword rabble lined up for the slaughter, but it would lessen his numbers for sure, certainly making _breaching_ the walls more difficult.

He set about thinking of a plan, he had the advantage, more, better trained soldiers. In their customary Ghiscari phalanx he was sure he could best them. But to ensure minimal losses.

Sighing he took a deep drink from his goblet.

He looked out of the flaps of his tent. Watching the sun slowly set over the horizon, when an idea came to him. Sellswords were not known for extraordinary brains and were more than likely to attack first. Perhaps some traps would destroy their cavalry and keep the battle firmly in his favour.

Stepping out of the command tent he ordered his captains and commanders to present themselves.

 _Fucking Essosi._


End file.
